Sunday 15 March 2009 16.39 EDT
First published on Sunday 15 March 2009 16.39 EDT

Jonny Wilkinson's 12 years as a Newcastle player look to be over. Wilkinson is believed to have been in Toulon discussing a move that would see him join Riki Flutey, Tom Palmer and James Haskell in France next season.

It would also see the England and Lions fly-half Wilkinson at least double the £250,000 he earns at Kingston Park. Wilkinson watched his Falcons team-mates clinch their sixth Premiership win in a row with a win over Harlequins, their best run since they won the title 11 years ago. But Newcastle remain tight-lipped about Wilkinson's future or the date of his likely return after a dislocated kneecap.

Asked if he would be back at Bath on Saturday, Falcons director of rugby Steve Bates said: "It's a possibility. Maybe." Bates is resigned to having to field questions about Wilkinson's future and he added: "I'm not comfortable with the speculation but I understand it and until something absolutely definitive is decided then I consider him a Newcastle player next season because he is under contract."

Harlequins, trailing 17-9 in the final minutes here, grabbed a lifeline when Mike Brown wriggled over and Chris Malone made it 17-16. But, soon afterwards, Tom May, Wilkinson's stand-in at No10, ran in a decisive try for Newcastle and then rubbed salt into the wounds by kicking the conversion to deny Quins even a losing bonus point.

Newcastle chose to play into a stiff wind in the first half and Nick Evans kicked two penalties for Quins before May knocked one over and Newcastle's first real attack led to a try when Adam Balding set up Tim Visser in the corner. Evans kicked a third penalty for 9-8 but the Newcastle scrum put Quins under enormous pressure and May gave the Falcons an 11-9 half-time lead with the penalty.

His third penalty early in the second half stretched Newcastle's lead but the Falcons blew two chances when May and Visser unaccountably tried to chip close to the Quins line. May kicked his fourth penalty with five minutes left and that seemed to be that but Brown's scrambling try cut the lead to one point before May slammed the door shut.

"We could have made that a lot easier than we did," saidBates. "We created three or four good chances we didn't take, but we did play some good football. We just need to keep doing what we're doing, but we face a huge task there."